Splitting machine



7, 1935. R. B. WOODCOCK ET AL 2,012,293

SPLITTING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Aug.27, 1935 "UNETED STATES Ztihitd SPLITTING Reginald Boyd Woodcock MACHINEI and Hubert Boothroyd,

Leicester, England, assignors to United Shoe Machinery (lorporation,Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 23, 1934,Serial No. 721,866 In Great Britain April 3, 1934 2 Claims. (oi.69-'-l3) This invention relates to machines for splitting sheet materialand is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for splitting soleblanks in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

In the manufacture of shoes the soles are prepared by dieing-out blanksof proper shape from a hide and then splitting a thin shaving from theflesh side of each blank to produce a sole of uniform thicknessthroughout. Machines for performing this splitting operation commonlycomprise a fixed knife and two rolls for feeding the sole blanks to theknife the finished sole passing between one of the rolls and the knifeand the shaving passing between the knife and the other roll. In orderto split the blank accurately, the edge of the knife should belocated'as near as possible to the bite of the rolls. There must,however, be enough space or clearance between each roll and the adjacentface of the knife to the rearof its edge to permit easy passage of thefinished sole between one roll and one face of the knife and of theshaving between the other roll and the other face of the knife.

The present invention provides an improved machine in which the edge ofthe knife is located close to the bite of the rolls and at the same timethe requisite clearance for the sole and the shaving is present in allpositions which the rolls may occupy.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is a front elevation of a machine in which the present inventionis embodied, certain parts having been broken away, and

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine with certain parts brokenaway.

The machine is an improvement upon the machine of United States LettersPatent No. 894,- 8539, granted August 4, 1908, upon an application filedin the name of Frederick J. Nash; and before describing in detail whatis new, a brief description of what is old will be given.

Th sole blank or other piece of work is presented over a table 3 inposition to be fed by a gage roll 5 and a feed roll I to a knife 9 whichis adjustably bolted to the frame of the machine. The bearings ll of thegage roll are slidable toward and from the knife, and have integral withtheir tops blocks it provided with inclined faces. The inclined faces ofthese blocks are held, by compression springs 15, against cooperatingwedges it carried by a slide-bar ll, said slidebar being adjustable tothe right and left, as viewed in Fig. 1, by turning a hand-wheel l8.Turning the hand-wheel in one direction permits the springs IE to movethe gage roll 5 away from the knife, while turning it in the otherdirection movesthe gage roll toward the knife. Thus the gage roll may beadjusted into any desired position'and. held from movement away from theknife. The finished sole passes between this roll and the knife, theposition into which this roll is adjusted thus determining the thicknessof the finished sole. A pointer is, actuated by the slide-bar ii, and ascale 2! indicate the distance of the gage roll above the knife edge.The bearings of the feed roll 7 are mounted in the outer ends of arms23, the inner or rear ends of which are pivoted to theframe of themachine about the axes of alined studs 25 carried by the frame,said'bearings being urged upwardly by heavy springs 27. Stop screws 29,located in the paths of movement of the arms 23, limit the extent ofupward movement of said arms and thus determine the distance between therolls when no work is passing through the machine. Both rolls are drivenso that a sole blank pre sented grain side up over the table 3 is seizedby the rolls and fed past the knife. The finished sole passes over theknife, its thickness depending upon the position into which the gageroll 5 was previously adjusted; and the shaving, which is removed fromthe flesh side of the sole blank, passes under the knife, the heavysprings 21 yielding to permit it to pass.- As thus far described, themachine is or may be substantially the same as the patented machine, andno further detailed description of it will be given, reference beingmade to the patent.

In the patented machine the bearings of the rolls are mounted formovement in a substantially vertical path at right angles to the planeof the knife; and when the edge of the knife is located close to thebite of the rolls, such a construction does not provide, in allpositions which the rolls may occupy, sufficient clearance, back of theknife edge between the rolls and the beveled faces of the knife, for thefree passage of the sole and the shaving respectively which are producedwhen a sole blank is split. In order to overcome this difficulty, thebearings of the rolls of the present machine are constrained to move inpaths which diverge from the knife toward the front of the machine.Thus, when the rolls move away from the knife edge to provide for athicker finished sole or a thicker shaving, they also move away from thebeveled faces of the knife back of the knife edge and thus provide morespace for the passage between the rolls and said beveled faces of saidsole or said shaving or both, as the case may be.

To this endthe bearings ll of the gage roll 5 are slidably mounted inguideways, the walls of one of which are indicated at 3| in Fig. 2,which are inclined upwardly from the knife edge and toward the front ofthe machine; and the alined studs 25, On which the supporting arms 23 ofthefeed roll '8 are pivoted, are located considerably below the level ofthe axis of the feed roll. The result of these mountings is that thepaths of the rolls diverge from the knife toward the front of themachine; and this permits the edge of the knife to be located closer tothe bite of the rolls than would otherwise be possible.

Inasmuch as many sole blanks are not of uniform thickness throughout, itis desirable that the feed roll '1 should be so mounted as to be able totilt so that one end may at times be higher than the other. To this endthe supporting arms 23 are not pivoted directly to the studs Instead,each arm 23 has screwed into its lower rear end a stud 33, the smoothportion of the stem of which is rotatable in a block integral with oneend of a pivot stud 25. The feed roll 3 may therefore be moved downbodily away from the knife and may also tilt or tip lengthwise toaccommodate itself to a sole blank which is thicker at one edge than atthe opposite edge.

ihe gage roll 5 and the feed roll 1 are driven by gears from a drivingshaft 37 in the following manner so as to permit them to move bodily inthe diverging paths described above Without disturbing the mesh of thegears. The shaft of the gage roll 5 has fast to one end thereof (thelefthand end as viewed in Fig. 1) a large gear 39;

disturbingthe mesh of the gear 39 with the pinion 4|.

The pinion 4! meshes with an idle pinion 4-3 which in turn meshes with apinion fast to the driving shaft 31. The shaft of the feed roll 1 hasfast to one end (the right-hand end as viewed in Fig. 1) a large gear41. This gear meshes with an idle pinion 49 which in turn meshes with apinion 51 fast on the driving shaft 31, the gear 41 and pinion 49 beingarranged as shown so that a plane passed through the axes of the pinion49 and the feed roll 7 is substantially at right angles to the path ofyielding movement of the feed roll.

Having described our invention, What we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A splitting machine having, in combination, a knife, a gage roll anda yielding feed roll movable in paths which diverge from the knifetoward the front of the machine, supporting arms in the outer ends ofwhich the bearings of the feed roll are carried, pivots mounted in theframe of the machine and extending substantially parallel to the axis ofthe feed roll, and other pivots carried by said arms, connected to thefirst-named pivots and extending substantially perpendicular to the axisof the feed roll.

2. A splitting machine having, in combination, a knife, a gage roll anda yielding feed roll movable in paths which diverge from the knifetoward the front of the machine, supporting arms in the free ends ofwhich the bearings of the feed roll are held, studs carried by the otherends of the arms, blocks in which the studs are rotatable, and otherstuds with which said blocks are rigid, said other studs being rotatablein bearings in the frame and located at right angles to the axes of saidfirst-namedstuds.

REGINALD BOYD WOODCOCK.

HUBERT BOOTHROYD.

